Lolita Chatterjee, Jim Sarbh's Jonaki to have world premiere at Rotterdam film fest

Filmmaker Aditya Vikram Sengupta's Jonaki will have its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2018.

Jonaki is the second feature film of the National Award-winning director, whose first feature Labour of Love (2014) won 13 international awards.

The film, an Indo-French-Singaporean co-production, stars Jim Sarbh and sees the 81-year-old actress Lolita Chatterjee making her comeback as Jonaki.

Produced by Magic Hour Films, For Films, and Catherine Dussart Productions, Jonaki is a tale of an 80-year-old woman who searches for love in a strange world of decaying memories, while her lover, now old and grey, returns to a world she is leaving behind.

It will be screened in the Bright Future Section of IFFR 2018 to be held between 24 January to 4 February.

Sengupta said in a statement, "Jonaki is an esoteric journey of the unfulfilled life of an 80-year-old woman. It is a film that is very personal to me and to have its world premier at Rotterdam is a true honour.

"IFFR celebrates and upholds auteur cinema with the highest regard and I think this is the perfect platform for us to showcase our vision."

Samir Sarkar of Magic Hour Films, the principal producer of Jonaki, describes the movie as a "powerfully poignant tale of love lost".